Saturday, May 9, 2009

Mother's Day

First off:  Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, future mothers, like-a-mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, etc.  Hope you all have a wonderful day and you rejoice with your family as they celebrate YOU!

I have the honor of having two moms.  My mother and my grandmother!  They both were my mother if you can follow me on this one.

My mother had a very unfortunate accident when she was young that caused her to have epilepsy.  She could not sustain a job when we were young that would provide adequate health care due to her condition.  So when I was 7 and my sister was 8, my grandmother and grandfather adopted us in order to provide for us.  This was a huge turning point in our lives as you can imagine.

My mom continued to be there, but her role as mother was fading.  I know this was horribly unfair to everyone involved because my mom felt horrible for having to make that choice, my grandparents were upset because they could no longer be our grandparents, and we kids could not understand any of this.  We were so confused.

My grandfather passed away shortly after the adoption was finalized.  So it left me, my sister, my mom and grandma in the house with each other.  My mom eventually remarried and moved out and we were with my grandmother until we went off to college.  She was our legal mother after all.

We did not see her side of things for a long time because it seemed so unfair.  We wanted to be with our mommy.  Little did we know that we got the best of both worlds.

Only looking back now after life has grown me up quite a bit (I have more to go of course), can I understand the sacrifice they both made to give us the best life possible.  My grandmother raised me with integrity, strength, character, belief in God, morals, a sense of right and wrong, hard work, ethics, essentially everything I will need in life to be a good person.  My mother raised me with kindness, gentleness, belief in God, caring, compassion, generosity, tender heartedness, unconditional love, essentially everything I will need in life to be a good person.  

My grandmother passed away almost two years ago now and it was heartbreaking.  I wish I would have told her more that I loved her and that I respected her.   I wish I would have thanked her more for all that she did.

My mother and I have become better friends (we were pretty great friends before, but it just gets better and better).  I try to tell her how much I love her and respect her and am thankful to her, but I know I don't do it enough.  I will strive to do better.  I do not want a day to go by that I don't thank God for her.  

I can now look back at the facts of the situation then and not have those teenager-ish emotions of entitlement, anger, unfairness, etc.  I never lacked in love.  I always had their love and support. I have had a wonderful life, due in large part to these two women.  I love them both and am so appreciative of what they have done and continue to do for me.  
 
They both had their strong suits and they both instilled it in me.  For that I am truly grateful.  I praise and thank God the day He made these two women and I thank Him even more that He made them my mothers.  

1 comment:

  1. This is wonderful honey. I had the honor of knowing your grandmother for only a short time, and she was obviously different from all the stories I heard, but she was an awesome woman. I love the woman you are because God made these two awesome women your mothers. I love you and happy future mothers day.

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